Increases in processing capability and decreases in the cost of personal computers has led to the proliferation of personal computers in all aspects of society. Personal computers are utilized in schools, homes and in business. Furthermore, with the decreased costs of personal computers, it has become more feasible from a cost perspective to use computers for tasks, and to carry out functions, which were previously done without the use of computers.
With the proliferation of computers throughout numerous aspects of life has come a trend to graphic user interfaces which make using a computer more intuitive. Examples of such graphic user interfaces include IBM.RTM. OS/2.RTM., Apple.RTM. System 7.RTM., and Microsoft.RTM. Windows.RTM.. These operating systems all rely on a "window like" workspace for applications, operating system information, such as directory information, and program groupings. Multiple windows may be displayed on the screen of a computer display device simultaneously in what is often referred to as a "desktop." Windows within a desktop are defined by a border which surrounds the window and may also include a title bar and in some cases a series of menu choices which may manage the appearance and contents of the window. In combination with a pointing device, windows may be independently moved and resized by "dragging" a border to a new location. Resizing a window may also be accomplished by dragging the corner of a window which simultaneously resizes the window in two directions.
Multiple windows on a desktop may be displayed in two primary ways. Windows may overlap each other and obscure windows beneath the topmost window in what is often referred to as a "cascade" or windows may be "tiled" across the screen so that the windows do not overlap. However, the tile method of displaying windows has previously been utilized primarily as a user selected option after creation of cascaded overlapping windows, in for example, Windows.RTM. and Windows.RTM. applications such as WordPerfect.RTM. for Windows.RTM.. In either the cascade case or the tile case, the creation or destruction of windows does not affect the sizing of existing windows on the screen. Furthermore, windows may be independently moved about the screen to relocate the window on the desktop.
To the best of the inventor's present knowledge, present user interfaces only allow independently sized and positioned windows or windows which bear a fixed relationship between each other. Thus, as a user opens new windows the older windows may be overlapped and obscured. When the user resizes one window the remaining windows open on the desktop are not resized and the user may resize each window individually to correct for overlap of multiple windows that the user desires to be visible.
Alternatively, to the best of the inventor's present knowledge, as a user opens an application, such as Windows.RTM. Explorer, which has a fixed number of resizeable subdivisions in the application window, the size of each subdivision is specified by the application. Furthermore, the number of subdivisions of the window is constant in that, for example, only two subdivisions of the window are present. Finally, these subdivisions are permanently connected so that they are in a fixed relationship with each other. Thus, a degree of flexibility of the user interface is sacrificed when the application has resizeable subdivisions of its window.
As a result of the increased complexity and the multi-tasking or multi-thread capabilities of modern graphic interface operating systems such as OS/2.RTM., it has become more and more likely that multiple windows will be open on the desktop simultaneously. With ever increasing size and resolution capabilities of display devices for computers it becomes more likely that a meaningful presentation of multiple windows is possible. Also, window based operating systems such as Windows.RTM. 95 and Apple System 7.RTM. display disk information within windows. Thus, to navigate a directory structure to locate a desired file a window is opened for each directory in the path to the file. These windows provide useful information only for a short period of time until the next level in the path is opened but remain displayed on the screen until closed by the user. Thus, often the screen becomes quickly cluttered with windows which contain information which is no longer needed.
As these examples illustrate, as the number of windows on a desktop increases there is an increased likelihood that a window containing information the user desires to be displayed is obscured. Thus, the increase in the use of multiple window applications and windowing operating systems has resulted in the proliferation of windows on a user's desktop which often clutters and obscures the useful information the user desires.
When these limitations of user interfaces are combined with the proliferation of windows on a desktop, the user is often required to resize each window individually to correct for overlap of multiple windows that the user desires to be visible or to perpetually close unneeded windows. Accordingly, in view of the above, it is apparent that the increase in use of graphical user interfaces and the increased capabilities of computers has brought about a need for improvements in the manipulation of windows in these user environments.